Acts of Resistance

The antidote to anxiety and fear is action so every weekday, as a form of activism and resistance as a very concerned US citizen, I am:

— Spending about an hour consuming news and analysis from my trusted, independent resources

— Crafting a message for my House Rep (Kevin Mullin) and Senators (Schiff and Padilla) and then calling them (I’m now on a first-name basis with the folks in Mullin’s office)

— Sharing what I did as a call to action for others following me on Facebook (not ideal because Meta/Zuckerberg are part of the fascist broligarchy, but it’s where I am doing it for now)

And then I stop looking at the news for the day. I do this to protect my sanity and to not allow the current fascist regime from hijacking my life and happiness.

I’m also being very intentional about where I spend our money. This is something that we’ve done for years and more than a few people have heard me get up onto my ‘vote with your pocketbook’ soapbox. Now more than ever we need to be doing this to support locally owned business, women owned business, Black and Brown owned businesses, LGBTQ+ owned businesses, and businesses owned by the marginalized in our society, and not give to the broligarchy, GOP, and fascists (all kind of the same thing right now).

I’ve been asked a few times about my trusted news and analysis sources and rather than send out individual emails, I thought I’d list them in a blog post. I’ll be updating as I remember my other sources and as I remove some if they lose credibility in my eyes.

Please note that I am 100% skeptical of mainstream / legacy media right now regardless of who is speaking. I trust Rachel Maddow for the most part but she is paid for by MSNBC which most likely influences what she can and cannot say (regardless of what she said earlier this week on air).

Also note that while I am occasionally on Bluesky (mostly to get news), I don’t love the platform so I am not including links to accounts on the platform. I have accounts on Twitter and Threads but I never go to either platform. I quit Twitter before it became X and Threads is a Meta company and I am limiting my activity on their platforms.

Also, I follow my two Senators (Schiff and Padilla), my House Rep (Mullin), my Governor (Newsom), and a number of other politicians including AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Elizabeth Warren, Piper from Missouri, and others from other states. Note: some of these folks have multiple accounts and I follow those, too.

Here’s the current list by platform:

YouTube

— #resistancelive (Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin)

Other

— The 5Calls app

Newsletters (in my inbox or on Substack)

— DAME Magazine (women-led, independent, reader-funded magazine)

— Heather Cox Richardson (historian)

— Timothy Snyder (author of On Tyranny which I highly recommend)

— Zeteo (independent media)

— The.Ink (Anand Giridharadas’ newsletter)

Instagram

— @amandasmildtakes

— @meidastouch

— @aaronparnas

TikTok

— Under the Desk News

Facebook

— Robert Reich

— Alt National Park Service

Podcasts

— The Daily Beans

— It’s Complicated

Also note that some days I don’t have it in me to read, listen, or follow any news and I simply avoid it. I’m trying to take a break at least one full day a week from any news, and on the weekdays, I don’t call the offices of my congressmen or governor.

Take care of your health, take care of your brain, take care of your people, and take care of our democracy (for as long as it lasts).

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Did I miss one of your favorites? Was this helpful? Let me know in the comments or drop me a line at pilotingyourlife@gmail.com.

This is not an endorsement for Bird scooters, especially since they filed for bankruptcy in 2023. Such a waste of good VC money!

About the Author

Terri Hanson Mead is the multi-award winning author of Piloting Your Life, Managing Partner of Solutions2Projects, LLC, travel journalist and vlogger with her husband Zeke (Zeke and Terri), Stanford Continuing Studies Instructor (Navigating Midlife for Women), and an advocate for women through all of her platforms including YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and this blog. Terri, the mother of a college junior (currently studying abroad) and recent college graduate, is based in Redwood City, CA and in her spare time, loves to travel, cook, play tennis, and fly helicopters around the San Francisco Bay Area, especially under the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh, and she will never pass up a glass of good bubbly!